Drawing on the cool but insistent sounds of 80's post-punk acts such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division and Bauhaus in a style not unlike such contemporaries as Interpol, the Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party, Brooklyn's the Cloud Room became a buzz band when their superb single "Hey Now Now" became a sensation on college radio and music blogs in both America and the UK but, being an indie release, had difficulty getting airplay on Commercial American radio.
The Cloud Room are led by guitarist and singer J, who was born in San Jose, California and came to New York City to work in independent filmmaking, having been promised a job working on a Hal Hartley project (it was given to an NYU student at the last minute). J continued to work on the margins of the movie business, but never lost interest in his first love, music. In 2004, J suffered a health crisis, and was forced to wait eighteen days for the results of an HIV test. Distraught, J began working on songs, one of which was "Hey Now Now"; when he got the good news that his test came back negative, an overjoyed J decided to focus his energies on music.
Unhappy with the musicians he'd been working with, J recruited bassist Jonathan Petrow and drummer Jason Pharr from a friend's band, Morris Air (later known as Public), and hired David H (guitar) and Steven Milton (keyboards) through ads on Craig's List. Names for a Prohibition-era private nightclub located near the top of a Manhattan skyscraper, The Cloud Room's demos soon attracted the attention of the New York-based independent label Gigantic Music, and in 2005 they sent the band into the studio with producer Chris Zane to record their self-titled debut album, which earned rave reviews from hipster music journals as well as mainstream publications such as Spin, Rolling Stone and the New York Times. Mark Deming, All Music Guide
In December 2008 the Cloud Room wrote a song for a Christmas compilation called 'An Indiecater Christmas' which was put out by Indiecater Records.
Waterfall
The Cloud Room Lyrics
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That's where your lost loves have all gone
They're bored and waiting for you
So put on your shoes and
Go, don't stay, you know
You know that it will be alright
Just leave it all behind
In those abandoned towns
That's where your lost lives can be found
All things you wished you had done
So put on your shoes and
Behind the waterfall
No one can name that thing they saw
You know, it's waiting for you
So put on your shoes and
The lyrics of The Cloud Room's song "Waterfall" seem to be about finding a way to escape the mundane and everyday routine of life, and go on an adventure. In the first verse, the song talks about people's "lost loves" who have gone behind the waterfall, and are waiting to be remembered. The waterfall, a symbol of nature's cascading beauty, represents an escape from the modern and artificial world, where people can let their thoughts and emotions run free. However, the song warns against staying too long in the past or in the "abandoned towns", where "lost lives can be found". Instead, it urges the listener to "put on your shoes" and go towards the unknown, towards something that might not even have a name yet.
The chorus repeats the message that everything will be alright if one just lets go of the past and embraces the future. The song suggests that the old adage "time heals all wounds" is not exactly true, and that in order to move forward, one needs to actively seek new experiences, rather than passively waiting for things to change. The final line "No one can name that thing they saw" suggests that the journey towards the waterfall, and beyond, might be a personal and ineffable experience, but nonetheless worth taking.
Line by Line Meaning
Behind the waterfall
There's a hidden place where you can go
That's where your lost loves have all gone
People you loved in the past are there and waiting
They're bored and waiting for you
They're not going anywhere, so you can take your time
So put on your shoes and go
Get ready to leave and go find them
Don't stay, you know
Don't hesitate or be scared
You know that it will be alright
Have faith, everything will work out
Just leave it all behind
Forget your worries and problems
'Cause it will be alright
Trust that things will be okay
In those abandoned towns
There are places that are empty and forgotten
That's where your lost lives can be found
The things you've missed out on are there
All things you wished you had done
Regrets can be fixed if you go there
No one can name that thing they saw
The experience will be unique and unexplainable
You know, it's waiting for you
It's a mystery, but you know it's there
So put on your shoes and go
Get ready to leave and go find out
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: BENJAMIN NUGENT, JASON PHARR, JONATHAN PETROW, JONATHAN STUART
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind